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Mar 2022
34m 15s

Part 1: The Roach Motel

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About this episode

The 2019 World Cup-champion U.S. Women’s National Team was arguably the most dominant team ever fielded by the most dominant institution in soccer. But striker Jessica McDonald remembers that for many people, what that team represented off the field was more important than what it accomplished on it, as fans around the world rallied behind the players’ public battle for equal pay. Legends of the women's game — including Julie Foudy, Michelle Akers and Joy Fawcett — look back at the early days of the USWNT, and a gritty fight for equality that had been unfolding behind the scenes for decades.

New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17.

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The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone.

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Up next
Mar 2022
Part 2: A Coping Mechanism
A child of a broken home, McDonald finds her calling — and her refuge — on the playing field. She grows up competing against her brother, cousins and other boys in the neighborhood, and no matter what the sport — basketball, volleyball, football, track — as the child of two talen ... Show More
26m 48s
Mar 2022
Part 3: The Safe Place
Throughout Jessica McDonald's tumultous childhood, there was one person she could always turn to: her grandmother Abbie, who becomes McDonald's biggest cheerleader. McDonald becomes a superstar for multiple Cactus High School sports teams, but the Sereno Soccer Club she plays for ... Show More
29m 43s
Apr 2022
Part 4: Tough as Nails
Following the fateful encounter with her mother, Jessica McDonald runs away from home. Soon, her grades flounder, leaving her ineligible for Division I athletics at all. McDonald's road to Chapel Hill detours through a nearby junior college in Phoenix, where she improves her GPA ... Show More
34m 38s
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